Loblaw develops its future talent from within

For Loblaw Companies Ltd., being Canada’s largest private-sector employer comes with responsibilities as well as benefits, says its chief human resources officer, Mark Wilson.

“Having the most employees – 220,000 colleagues – means we have the most career opportunities,” says Wilson. “We also need to foster talent in 2,500 retail locations from No Frills stores to Shoppers Drug Marts, plus 30 distribution centres, head office in Brampton, Ontario, and a bank. So, it also means Loblaw has a lot of career development programs.”

Much of that career assistance is aimed at front-line workers. “How do we help them progress to being a lead to being a department manager, assistant manager, store manager?” Wilson asks rhetorically, before listing the company’s role-specific learning paths and its tuition reimbursement for formal education. “This is an important pillar for Loblaw, and a win-win because it’s great for our colleagues and great for the company,” says Wilson, “providing us with tens of thousands of leaders already in our stores.”

The number of workers seeking Loblaw careers, combined with the countless first jobs it provides for so many young people who go on to careers elsewhere, plus the millions of people in Canada who regularly use its products and services, means Loblaw has an incredible amount of interaction with Canadian society.

“We have to be mindful of that and work hard to earn people’s trust,” Wilson says. “It has to start from our core values. Our purpose is to help people in Canada live life well. To do that, we must make sure that we treat each other, colleagues and customers alike, with integrity, respect and openness.”

Julie Martin, a district manager for Maxi, Loblaw’s Québec discount grocery chain, echoes Wilson’s comments. “I started here as a cashier while still a student 20 years ago and worked in almost every department while studying psychology at university and climbing the career ladder,“ says Martin, who is based in Repentigny, 25 minutes northeast of Montréal.

“What I appreciate most about my role as district manager is the opportunity it provides to interact with and build relationships with our customers and our colleagues every day,” she says.

The same commitment to community and colleagues can be seen in other aspects of the company’s workplace culture, says Wilson, including the President’s Choice Children’s Charity, which combats child hunger, the Shoppers Foundation for Women’s Health and the Loblaw program that donates $500 to any charity where a colleague volunteers 40 hours during a year. “We send $180 million a year back into our communities through these programs,” Wilson says.

“Each store in my district has the freedom to make a difference in its community,” says Martin. “From one town to another, the needs are different, and each store helps according to those priorities. Whether it’s through sports, our schools or our seniors, our colleagues live within their communities and make a difference in their own backyards.”

Then there is Loblaw’s recently enhanced mental-health support. “We increased the amount of financial coverage from $750 to $3,500, and set up a system to ensure our people know that it’s okay to need support, and that there are resources available.”

Martin is particularly proud of her employer’s actions in regards to mental health. “The investment and support have been phenomenal” she says. “Every day, we take care of our colleagues, we listen to what they are going through, and we make sure to support them when they are going through difficult times.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top 100 Employers winners, published November 15, 2024 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

Loblaw’s care for its people supports its business

What struck Melanie Singh in the head office of Loblaw Companies Ltd. 15 years ago was the feel of the Brampton Ont. building. “I had come for the first time for an interview, and I hadn’t yet spoken to one person,” says Singh, now Loblaw’s president, hard discount division. “But even as I walked in, I felt an energy here, and I thought, heck, this is a place I’d like to work.”

That first impression only solidified when Singh met the people at Loblaw and encountered a welcoming workplace culture – marked by numerous career opportunities and training programs – that she decided made it as much a people business within its ranks as it was without in its 2,500 retail locations.

“There is energy and opportunity all right, but what is critical for me is I get to be myself every day,” says Singh, who emigrated from Guyana as a child. “I don’t look like everybody else, and I don’t behave like everybody else, but I get to be who I am, and so does everybody in this building, which I think is a tremendous testament to the culture that we’ve built.”

Singh’s story resonates with that of Loblaws store manager Adrian Dziewiecki, a 20-year Loblaw veteran, who came to Richmond Hill, Ont. from Poland when he was six. By 16 he was, in his own words, “pushing carts” for the local Loblaw store, work he continued while attending college with an eye on becoming a police officer.

“Then Loblaws asked me to become a general merchandise manager – housewares and kitchenware – when I was 20,” Dziewiecki says. “By 25, I was a store manager. I had a very good mentor, my district manager at the time, and I guess he saw potential, and sent me on a 10-week training course.”

For both Dziewiecki and Singh, care for their colleagues is the key element in maintaining Loblaw customer satisfaction among the 60,000 people who come to the downtown Toronto Loblaws store Dziewiecki manages and the six million who visit the 500 discount stores in Singh’s division every week. “The most important part of having a successful store where the customer has a great experience is the colleagues,” says Dziewiecki.

For Singh, whose leadership team is located across Canada, getting together on a daily basis is significant. “We do it through regular phone and video calls, conferences and face-to-meetings that we have throughout the year, all part of attending to our core cultural values of integrity, respect and openness,” Singh says.

At the store level, says Dziewiecki, the focus is on engagement, retention and the overall culture. “Loblaw has been working for years to build a workplace of diversity, equity, inclusion, and investing time and training from the very start of colleagues’ journeys with us,” the manager says. “There are lots of opportunities and benefits, from health and wellness programs to dynamic scheduling where we work around important things in their lives like another part-time job or childcare, but definitely the engagement – and therefore the retention – is in the culture.”

So, too, is the customer satisfaction, Dziewiecki adds. “The investment in time and training we put into our colleagues determines the customer experience, because customers have a far better experience with workers who are valued.”

The benefits pay off for everyone, says Dziewiecki, even colleagues who have attained full-time work elsewhere. “Some have kept their job here as part-timers, so they can come in once or twice a week just to see everybody, just to hang out. It’s like a family.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Greater Toronto’s Top Employers winners, published December 3, 2024 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

Loblaw looks for young talent from stores to campuses

Manhar Joshi, associate merchant at Loblaw Companies Ltd., likes to describe how he came to his position as a tale of two schools. “One was the University of Windsor,” says Joshi, who arrived in Canada from India in 2023 to study for his master of engineering (MEng) degree. “The other was Loblaw, which was like another university, one that was teaching me so much about business.

“When I graduated with my MEng, I had two paths to choose between. I could start a career in engineering or take up what I had learned at Loblaw,” Joshi says. “And I love my world here. So, I said, ‘You know what? I’m going into business.’”

Joshi had been working part-time at a Loblaw store to support his studies. He started on his Loblaw career path, says Leena Patel, senior director, talent strategy, “when senior colleagues took note of his attitude and his eagerness to learn, and suggested he apply for a co-op position.”

With 2,500 retail outlets across the country, Loblaw is not only Canada’s largest private-sector employer but a major source of first jobs for many young people, notes Patel. “We do look for young talent on post-secondary campuses, but also among our Loblaw colleagues in our retail stores,” says Patel. “We’re really trying to help them on their career journey, whether it’s store or corporate roles.”

After three co-op roles and becoming a full-time colleague at Loblaw’s Brampton, Ont., head office, Joshi continues to receive strong support from colleagues and is confident there is much more to come. “The mentorship and training I have received at Loblaw has been fantastic – I have been provided with all the tools and resources I need at every step along the way,” he says.

“And going forward, if I need help – say, to learn something about supply chain – I can talk to people in supply chain and I know they will help.”

“There are so many different avenues that our early talent can follow and so many resources designed to help them, from scholarships to the co-op and internship opportunities, to tuition reimbursement to the orientation program,” says Patel. “Then there’s the Academy, our learning management portal for all of our Loblaw colleagues and the Let’s Talk informal group sessions with senior leaders.”

The learning management system, Patel adds, can create programs tailored to specific roles or skills. “It allows all of us to do self-learning in our own time and really double down on what it is we’re trying to develop for ourselves,” she says.

“Everyone’s career path is unique and there is no right or wrong way. Here, you can take your career in any direction you wish. We’ve had individuals who have gone from HR to the operations side, or from operations into HR. Loblaw is about the breadth of experience and we value all experience.”

That cuts to the core of Loblaw culture, says Joshi. “It offers growth, inclusivity and celebrating everyone and everything,” he says, “and I see a bright future here.”

Patel’s experience mirrors Joshi’s. “It rings true to me when we say, ‘You own your own career,’” Patel says.

“When I’ve gone to my senior leaders and said I’d like to explore something different, they’ve always helped bring that to life. We are invested in our people, and you can feel it. And that’s why we have such a great culture, not just for young people, but for all colleagues.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada's Top Employers for Young People winners, published January 21, 2025 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.

At Loblaw, inclusion is woven into the cultural fabric

After Bernor Camacho Loaiza, a merchant with Loblaw Companies Ltd., graduated, one of his chief aims was launching his career in “a good company culture,” he says. That eventually led him to Loblaw.

“It was a 180-degree turn from what I was used to, but I’d heard good things about it, and when I started I could see it all around me, from the mentoring I received to using diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) awareness to make informed business decisions,” says Camacho.

“Leaders from every business unit I’ve ever interacted with put inclusion values into everyday action. It’s one thing for a company to say something, it’s another to see it actually happening.”

Embracing diversity is an ongoing evolution as well, says Camacho, whose merchant role involves collaboration with other merchandising, procurement and supply chain teams. He cites what he calls “aha, that’s cool” moments in his six years with Loblaw. One was ads at Canadian airports in languages tied to those likely to be spoken by passengers on specific flights. Another was more personal for the son of Costa Rican immigrants.

“My mom had to learn English along with me. And one of her biggest anxieties was going to the grocery store because she didn’t know who or how to ask if she couldn’t find something. Now, our stores are introducing language pins for colleagues to wear and she could find someone she knows she can say ‘Hola’ to,” says Camacho. “It’s a small thing but it makes such a big impact.”

“I've witnessed our growth as we commit to recognizing our biases and embracing new perspectives," says Metzi Liau, vice president of merchandising at Shoppers Drug Mart.

“Our company is becoming more reflective of the communities we serve, and we are hearing a greater diversity of voices as leaders share their personal stories and experiences.”

Liau has found the journey rewarding. “Through my participation on the Embrace Your Roots employee resource group, I have found my voice and am grateful for the opportunity to use it to advocate for others,” she says.

“We have seen first-hand how inclusion moves beyond corporate initiatives to become a genuine reflection of our colleagues’ everyday experiences. When we foster inclusion and belonging, our colleagues feel valued, and that translates to both individual and organizational success."

Loblaw is committed to promoting inclusion in the communities it serves across Canada, Liau says. “We initiated a supplier program, where we invited smaller entrepreneurs and business owners interested in working with Loblaw. This program provides them with insights on how to navigate retail, creating mutual benefits as we welcomed new suppliers to our network.”

Loblaw leans heavily on input from its four DEI-related employee resource groups (ERGs) – Embrace Your Roots, ABLE, Go Further Women and Proud – for initiatives both inside the workplace and in the larger community, Liau adds, and Embrace Your Roots played a key role in the supplier program.

In 2024, all the ERGs played a consultative role in Loblaw’s decision to donate $1 million in funding to five organizations representing often marginalized Canadian communities: the Black Business and Professional Association, the Canadian Women’s Foundation, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, the Canadian Council for Indigenous Business and Pride at Work Canada.

For Camacho, a co-lead on a Proud ERG subcommittee, inclusivity is a crucial factor in Loblaw’s appeal. “I’ve never thought about leaving,” he says, “and a big part of that is because we have interwoven DEI into our everyday business.”

This article appeared in the magazine announcing this year's Canada’s Best Diversity Employers winners, published February 25, 2025 in The Globe and Mail. This article was prepared with the financial support of the employer, which reviewed but did not write its contents.